Everyone has their own idea of what it means to turn older. For me, growing older was synonymous with maturing. I had the preconceived notion that maturing meant not being able to get away with foolhardy activities. Therefore, growing older meant not having any fun. Being the harlequin that I am, I had as much fun as I could at every age I grew -- pulling timeless pranks; eating strage concoctions made out of assorted condiments; bellowing with laughter; feeling the thrill of naughtiness; and many other juvenile experiences too numerous to name.
As my 30th birthday rolled near, I was excited to see what surprises a new decade would bring. "Wait until you actually turn 30," more than one friend had warned me. "Then you'll really start to feel old." It is widely accepted that turning 30 is one of the major milestones in life, especially for women. An ever-growing number of articles and blog posts discuss fears and advice on turning or being 30. Pamela Redmond Satran wrote the now-infamous "30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Know by the Time She's 30." @HuffPostWomen had been tweeting a lot about fear at different ages.
I have known people who make "Before I Turn 30" to-do lists, people who are terrified of starting a new decade. (Then again, I have also known people who are nonchalant about the whole thing and trudge on.) It made me wonder why this milestone is such a big deal, as I had not been able to comprehend why people subjected themselves to the fear of getting older. From what I can gather, some people feel that they have not accomplished what they thought they would by the time they got to their 30s. Fair enough, but is a to-do list really necessary?
Although I am not much of a celebratory person, I did want to do something that would ring in the new decade. Turning older is about letting go of past mistakes and facing the unknown with as much courage as possible. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg recently started the Lean In movement encouraging women to "lean in" to achieve their ambitions and change the world. So, I wanted to lean in... to my 30s. What better way of leaning in and facing the unknown than dares? Thus, 30 Dares in 30 Days for the Big 30 was born! (It occurred to me only halfway through the project that the time allocated for my dares was, in fact, less than 30 days. What can I say? Math was never my strong suit.)
From disgusting challenges (drinking a 1.5 L of Coca-Cola in 20 minutes) to humanitarian ones (spending time at an orphanage of choice) to embarrassing moments (singing a Celine Dion song in public), the dares made the days up to my birthday quite interesting and entertaining! As the 30 Dares neared the end, I realized that I could summon up the courage to step outside my comfort zone and adjust to most situations that were thrown at me. I finally understood the meaning of those "to-do" lists. They were not a form of subjection to fear, but a way to celebrate the end of one decade and to embrace the new one.
I turned 30 years old on April 10, 2013. After (less than) 30 days, the dares taught me this: maturing is not about losing the fun. It is about tossing in the fun with the responsibilities of life. As my friend Montiese once said to me, "When we were young, we did stupid things. Now that we're older, we still do stupid things... within reason."
